Akhilesh meets Durga Nagpal, revives hopes

Hopes of an early revocation of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal’s suspension were revived, when she met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday for the first time since she was removed from the post of sub-divisional magistrate, Gautam Budhha Nagar, UP on July 27.

The state government had suspended and served a chargesheet to Nagpal for allegedly not following due process of law while demolishing a wall of a mosque in village Kadalpur in Gautam Buddha Nagar. However, it is believed that the government action actually had to do with her crackdown on the sand mafia in the area.

At the Saturday meeting, Nagpal, accompanied by her husband IAS officer Abhishek Singh, met the chief minister and spoke to him for 15 minutes.Though no official information about the meeting was given, sources claimed the chief minister gave her a patient hearing.

A senior officer said the state government was awaiting the report of principal secretary home RM Srivastava, who was conducting an inquiry against Nagpal.